Today’s quote comes from Bill Strickland, Founder of the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and MCG Jazz. We’ve featured Bill in a previous video post here entitled The Arts: Giving Hope to the Hopeless.

“The sand in the hourglass flows only one way. Don’t waste precious time chasing someone else’s definition of success. Live your life with purpose now. Look for the things that inspire you, trouble you, make you feel most alive, and trust in those things to shape your future. They will give you all your heart could ever wish for.”

Here’s an excerpt from his rousing speech in which he explains the importance of understanding the holistic message conveyed in a musical piece:

“I have to stop thinking about every single note along the way, and start thinking about the long, long line from B to E. We just came back from South Africa. You can’t go to South Africa without thinking about Nelson Mandela in jail for 27 years. What was he thinking about? Lunch? No. He was thinking about the vision for South Africa and for human beings. This is about vision. This is about the long line – Like the bird who flies over the field and doesn’t care about the fences underneath. This is about vision. This is about the long line.”

Tod Machover, a composer, inventor, and educator, has a real understanding of the power of music to transform lives, and in making music accessible through technology. He believes that participation is essential to reap the benefits of music. In this video from the TED website, he discusses his thoughts on music participation and his work. Dan Ellsey, a 34 year-old musician with cerebral palsey and Adam Boulanger, a technology expert give a vivid illustration of how technology can help us overcome challenges and adapt to the needs of the music participant.

In my book, Everything We Needed to Know About Business, We Learned Playing Music, I articulated that the greatest benefit of arts education is that the participants develop tools of introspection. There is nothing more important in education than to give children the ability to look inside of themselves and to determine their special gifts and unique calling in life (more on this thought in tomorrow’s blog post).

In this video that is a follow-up to a previous lecture posted here, the brilliant Sir Ken Robinson discusses the personalization of education and the need for an education revolution. Everyone who cares about education should view this video!